The invention relates to cell and tissue culture with the help of a culture fluid.
It more particularly relates to cell and tissue culture units which comprise a culture chamber wherein cells and/or tissues to be grown are placed, as well as access means to the chamber capable of being connected to an external device intended for feeding and setting the culture medium (or nutrient) in motion, in order to provide a dynamic culture process in the chamber.
Known culture units are often complex and cumbersome which, because of their integration into the culture device, make difficult the observation of the development of the culture with a microscope. Furthermore, as their complexity makes them very costly, these culture units should be provided for multiple use. It is therefore mandatory that they be disassembled before each new use, in order to clean them, then be re-assembled, which makes their use even more complex and causes changes in results, in the case of successive identical cultures. Consequently, this is detrimental to reproducibility. Moreover, by virtue of their conception, these units do not allow operations to be performed on the cells and tissues during the culture period. On the other hand, as is impossible to change the geometry of the chambers, a specific application generally corresponds to each unit type.
The object of the invention is to overcome all or a part of these drawbacks.
For this purpose, it provides a unit of the type described in the introduction and which comprises a base delimiting at least the side-walls of the chamber and at least the side-walls of at least a well communicating through at least one of its upper and lower portions with the chamber, and removable closing means able to allow access to the chamber and to the well.
Because of their great simplicity and their great adaptability, the units according to the invention may be provided for throw-away uses. Of course, they may also be re-used.
Preferably, the base delimits at least two wells which communicate with the chamber.
In a preferred embodiment, the closing means include a removable upper lid which closes the upper portion of the chamber. Removing the upper lid is then sufficient for accessing the chamber and the well(s). Still more preferably, the upper lid includes, facing the upper portion of each well, a port adapted for receiving a removable upper sealing means, such as a plug. This allows one to operate on a well without having to remove the upper lid.
Upper sealing means having sealing walls placed at different levels may be used in order to force the culture fluid to penetrate the wells.
Advantageously, the upper lid includes at least an area equipped with a means (of the septum type) allowing an external component to be introduced therein, such as a temperature sensor, a pH sensor or a needle.
Moreover, when the lower portion of the wells is not closed by a portion of the base, a lower removable lid which closes all the wells simultaneously, or removable lower sealing means, such as plugs independent of one another, are provided.
The upper lid or at least certain of the lower plugs may be configured so as to receive a culture support.
Lower plugs having sealing walls placed at different levels may be used so as to be able to vary the height of the facing well.
The unit according to the invention may include other features taken separately or combined, and notably:
At least certain of the wells may include at least a membrane in order to define at least two superimposed culture compartments;
at least certain of the side-walls of the well may delimit a cylinder or a truncated cone;
access means may be provided as Luers and equipped with access control means such as valves;
at least one of the septa may be configured so as to deflect the culture fluid flux, preferably towards the wells, or else equipped with an auxiliary component intended for providing this flux deflection;
the base may be made through molding or machining of a synthetic material, preferably resistant to high temperatures which prevail in ovens, in particular in autoclaves, or else resistant to gamma or beta rays, or to any other type of radiation used for sterilization;
it is at least partially made of transparent materials;
it may comprise temperature regulation means.